2005 Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo Garnacha Cariñena Menguante

Type Red
Producer Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo
Variety Garnacha
Designation Menguante
Country Spain
Region Aragón
Appellation Cariñena
Price $8.99



This is under $10. Amazing.

Night One

This has a powerful nose, full of blackberry, mulberry, and orange peel.

The palate is extraordinarily complex for an under $10 wine. It starts with blackberries and pepper, then adds orange peel, intense spices and licorice. The wine is medium-bodied and tannins are smooth, adding leather to the finish. The finish is long.

This is absurdly good for an under $10 wine. Is it great? No, not really. Is it great on a price to quality ratio? Heck yeah. Come back on Night Two to see it it stands up.

Night Two

The nose is not as nice on Night Two, opening with sweet blackberries and the aroma of artificial grape soda. It still has a little of the orange peel from Night One. There is also a touch of tarragon.

The palate has also dropped off quite a bit from Night One. First, rather than smooth, it is gritty. Pepper is stronger than blackberry, but the taste of artificial fruit flavors, followed by a mid-palate with the clear metallic taste of garlic, is a real disappointment. The finish is all garlic and the aftertaste of artificial sweetener.

I adored this wine, for the dollar, on Night One. On Night Two, I am not even going to finish the bottle. In all fairness, though, this is an under-$10 wine, so it was made to drink fresh, not to rest in a cellar for years. For what it is, cheap wine meant to be drunk right away, it is terrific. Just make sure you have enough thirst, or enough friends, to put it all away the first night.





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Wine Blogging Wednesday- North vs. South

Remy, at The Wine Case, hosts this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. The theme? North vs. South. So tonight, the Wooden Guys and I will be looking at Garnacha from Spain and Grenache from Australia. I am just going to compare first nights for both. The wines will be reviewed over two nights individually.



First, the Garnacha:

2005 Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo Garnacha Cariñena Menguante

Type Red
Producer Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo
Variety Garnacha
Designation Menguante
Country Spain
Region Aragón
Appellation Cariñena
Price $8.99

Night One

This has a powerful nose, full of blackberry, mulberry, and orange peel.

The palate is extraordinarily complex for an under $10 wine. It starts with blackberries and pepper, then adds orange peel, intense spices and licorice. The wine is medium-bodied and tannins are smooth, adding leather to the finish. The finish is long.

This is absurdly good for an under $10 wine. Is it great? No, not really. Is it great on a price to quality ratio? Heck yeah. Come back on Night Two to see it it stands up.

And now, the Grenache:

2005 Yangarra Estate Grenache Old Vine

Type Red
Producer Yangarra Estate
Variety Grenache
Designation Old Vine
Country Australia
Region South Australia
SubRegion Fleurieu
Appellation McLaren Vale
Price $25.98

The nose opens with some jammy dark fruit, mostly elderberry, with black pepper, earth and brambles. It also has an underlying lingering licorice aroma.

The palate is very true to the nose. The wine opens with jammy dark elderberry and black pepper. It has earth and brambles, giving it underlying depth and keeping it from qualifying as a "fruit bomb." Licorice is more pronounced on the palate than the nose. A bit of dried orange peel appears on the mid-palate. The finish is mid-length and trends away from the fruit and toward black pepper and orange peel.

North versus South

The first obvious difference is the price difference. The Garnacha is under $10, while the Australian Grenache is over $25. The Australian is not two-and-a-half times better than the Spanish. In fact, I think I like the Spanish one better. It is more balanced, offers a far more interesting and entertaining nose, and has a better mid-palate. In the Spanish wine, and Spain is a warm weather country, too, the fruit is not big and jammy. Tannins and acid balance nicely, and the different tastes balance out. On the other hand, the mulberry dominates in the Australian wine, while everything else plays second-fiddle.





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2005 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Calatayud Viñas Viejas

Type: Red
Producer: Las Rocas de San Alejandro
Variety: Garnacha
Designation: Viñas Viejas
Country: Spain
Region: Aragón
Appellation: Calatayud
Price: $19.99

The color is very dark purple-tinged crimson, but slightly translucent.

The first impression on the nose is fruit and spice, and lots of both. It takes a little longer to separate them out. Cherries, cranberries, and dried orange peel are the fruit. Pepper leads the spice, but there is something else there, too. It's sage. The last smell on the nose is a very light background, adding nutty richness more than the clear smell, of hazelnut liqueur.

Oh gosh that interesting. Give me a minute. The palate is not as sweet as the nose. The fruit is cranberry juice and orange peel, with very little of the cherry from the nose. A little bit of charred meat, plenty of black pepper and toasted pecans make up the mid-palate. Sour cherries and cranberries appear, and then linger for a long time, on the finish, ending with a surprising aftertaste of red licorice. Tannins are very smooth.

It will be interesting to see if some of the unsweetened-cranberry bitterness fades from Night One to Night Two. Join me and we will find out together.

Night Two

Missed it. Sorry, I had a National Championship football game to watch, and my mighty Gators won it all! By Night Three, though, it was over the hill, slightly oxidized, and I can not fairly rate it.

Monte das Ânforas 2006

Vinho Regional Alentejano
Vino Tinto
Portugal
Aragonez 60%
Trincadeira 30%
Alfrocheiro 10%
13.5% alcohol
$12.98

This is such a bright ruby red it sparkles and dances with the light.

Big black cherry, nutmeg and cinammon blast out of the glass straight into the nose, followed by cranberry and orange peel. This is fantastic, like fresh-made cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. Now sprinkle some unsweetened cocoa over the top, as the nose makes its third big change.

Bummer. The palate doesn't meet the promises made by the nose. It is good, even great for a $12 wine (some people on Cellar Tracker got it as cheaply as $8), but it is then and far more one-dimensional than the nose. Blackberries and raspberries are followed by leather and tar. The finish is medium-length, tannic and tart (have you ever had wild strawberries? Like that).

Will the palate meet the nose's promise tomorrow? Or will the nose flatten down to the palate? Stay tuned, and we will find out together.

Are you back? Welcome back.

Pinecones and pepper, blackcurrant and raspberry, followed by last night's cinammon and orange peel. This nose is still terrific. Let us see if the palate is any better.

Definite blackberry and blackcurrant, cigar box and leather up front. Now, though, there is a distinct petroleum chemical taste and some menthol.

Another hour and a bit warmer (it sent the night in the cellar) and the chemical smell is gone but the menthol stuck around. Black fruit and cigar box remained, plus some plums and spice on the midpalate.

The verdict? This is a very good wine for the money, but quite young. Will it ever be great? I don't think so. Will it get better and be good for quite a while? Yes, I think so, and at a price from $8-$12, it is certainly worth putting up a few bottles based just on its early promise.